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Efficiency and demographics of a high-yield dairy ewe farm with two managing systems involving five or 10 lambings per year
- J.-L. Pesantez-Pacheco, L. Torres-Rovira, F. Hernandez, M. V. Sanz-Fernandez, N. P. Villalobos, A. Heras-Molina, C. Garcia-Contreras, M. Vazquez-Gomez, P. Martinez-Ros, J.-V. Gonzalez-Martin, A. Gonzalez-Bulnes, S. Astiz
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This study assessed milk productivity, demographic characteristics and workload distribution on a single high-yield dairy ewe farm in Spain (Avila, Spain; continental climate, latitude of 40.90 N, altitude of 900 m) over a 7-year period considering a transition from a herd management system involving five lambings per year (5LY) to a system involving 10 lambings per year (10LY). The 5LY system was practiced on the farm from 2010 to 2012 and the 10LY system from 2014 to 2015, with 2009 and 2013 being considered transition years. During this period, 27 415 lactations were recorded from an average of 3746 Lacaune sheep/year. Several productivity parameters were higher in 2014 to 2015 than in 2010 to 2012: milk yield/lactation (370±156 v. 349±185 l), lactation length (218±75 v. 192±75 days) and dry period length (53.5±38.3 v. 69.1±34.8 days) (all P<0.0001). During 2014 to 2015, investment in new lambing facilities was possible, workload was distributed more uniformly throughout the year, workload per worker was smaller, rate of ewe culling was lower (35.39±0.53% v. 42.51±7.51%), ewe longevity was greater and higher-order lactations were more numerous (P<0.0001). On the other hand, during 2010 to 2012, daily production was higher (1.73±1.66 v. 1.70±0.62 l/day; P=0.038), the interlambing period was shorter (283±50 v. 302±44 days; P<0.0001) and lambings/ewe per year were greater (1.42±0.01 v. 1.30±0.01; P<0.05). These results suggest that a 10LY herd management system can be compatible with profitability, productivity and good animal and worker’s welfare on a high-yield dairy farm, and may even be associated with better outcomes than a 5LY system.
Effects of supplemental zinc amino acid complex on gut integrity in heat-stressed growing pigs
- M. V. Sanz Fernandez, S. C. Pearce, N. K. Gabler, J. F. Patience, M. E. Wilson, M. T. Socha, J. L. Torrison, R. P. Rhoads, L. H. Baumgard
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Heat stress (HS) jeopardizes livestock health and productivity and both may in part be mediated by reduced intestinal integrity. Dietary zinc improves a variety of bowel diseases, which are characterized by increased intestinal permeability. Study objectives were to evaluate the effects of supplemental zinc amino acid complex (ZnAA) on intestinal integrity in heat-stressed growing pigs. Crossbred gilts (43±6 kg BW) were ad libitum fed one of three diets: (1) control (ZnC; 120 ppm Zn as ZnSO4; n=13), (2) control+100 ppm Zn as ZnAA (Zn220; containing a total of 220 ppm Zn; n=14), and (3) control+200 ppm Zn as ZnAA (Zn320; containing a total of 320 ppm Zn; n=16). After 25 days on their respective diets, all pigs were exposed to constant HS conditions (36°C, ∼50% humidity) for either 1 or 7 days. At the end of the environmental exposure, pigs were euthanized and blood and intestinal tissues were harvested immediately after sacrifice. As expected, HS increased rectal temperature (P⩽0.01; 40.23°C v. 38.93°C) and respiratory rate (P⩽0.01; 113 v. 36 bpm). Pigs receiving ZnAA tended to have increased rectal temperature (P=0.07; +0.27°C) compared with ZnC-fed pigs. HS markedly reduced feed intake (FI; P⩽0.01; 59%) and caused BW loss (2.10 kg), but neither variable was affected by dietary treatment. Fresh intestinal segments were assessed ex vivo for intestinal integrity. As HS progressed from days 1 to 7, both ileal and colonic transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) decreased (P⩽0.05; 34% and 22%, respectively). This was mirrored by an increase in ileal and colonic permeability to the macromolecule dextran (P⩽0.01; 13- and 56-fold, respectively), and increased colonic lipopolysaccharide permeability (P⩽0.05; threefold) with time. There was a quadratic response (P⩽0.05) to increasing ZnAA on ileal TER, as it was improved (P⩽0.05; 56%) in Zn220-fed pigs compared with ZnC. This study demonstrates that HS progressively compromises the intestinal barrier and supplementing ZnAA at the appropriate dose can improve aspects of small intestinal integrity during severe HS.
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- By Luis G. Acevedo, Schahram Akbarian, Ioanna Andreou, Krishnarao Appasani, Raghu K. Appasani, Julia Arand, David M. Ashley, Alexander R. Ball, Yehudit Bergman, Marina Bibikova, Angela Bithell, Francesca Bonafè, Eric E. Bouhassira, Victoria L. Boyd, Noel J. Buckley, Lars Olov Bygren, Claudio M. Caldarera, Gemma Carvill, James W. F. Catto, Sarah Derks, Ewa Dudziec, Jeffrey D. Falk, Jian-Bing Fan, Joseph M. Fernandez, David E. Fisher, Emanuela Fiumana, Tamara B. Franklin, Fei Gao, Arkadiusz Gertych, Emanuele Giordano, David Goldman, Markus Grammel, Carlo Guarnieri, Kevin L. Gunderson, Victoria (Fatemeh) G. Haghighi, Xu Han, Yong-Mahn Han, Howard C. Hang, Aditi Hazra, Laura B.K. Herzing, Norbert Hochstein, Robin Holliday, Dorothee Honsel, Mary A. Jelinek, Guanyu Ji, Yan Jiang, Atsushi Kaneda, Richard A. Katz, Hyemin Kim, Richard Kroon, Tapas K. Kundu, Benoit Labonté, Daeyoup Lee, Konstantin Lepikhov, Andrea Linnemann-Florl, Dirk Loeffert, Dylan Maixner, Isabelle M. Mansuy, Andreas Missel, D. V. Mohankrishna, Joana Carvalho Moreira de Mello, Paolo G. Morselli, Rituparna Mukhopadhyay, Claudio Muscari, Takashi Nagano, Frank Narz, Shuji Ogino, Carlo M. Oranges, Shari Orlanski, Alice Pasini, Ralf Peist, Lygia V. Pereira, Andrey Poleshko, Claire Rougeulle, Thea Rütjes, Ana Sanz, Benjamin G. Schroeder, Gerald Schock, Kornel Schuebel, B. Ruthrotha Selvi, Hogyu Seo, Natalia Shalginskikh, Andrew Sharp, Jun S. Song, Lennart Suckau, Azim Surani, Jian Tajbakhsh, Gustavo Turecki, Céline Vallot, Manon van Engeland, Jörn Walter, Nicholas C. Wong, Mark Wossidlo, Honglong Wu, Yurong Xin, Zhixiang Yan, Yu-Ying Yang, Mingzhi Ye, Kyoko Yokomori, Sephorah Zaman, Weihua Zeng, Gerald Zon
- Edited by Krishnarao Appasani
- Foreword by Azim Surani, University of Cambridge
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- Book:
- Epigenomics
- Published online:
- 05 August 2012
- Print publication:
- 02 August 2012, pp x-xxiv
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